Gay man gets 'maternity' leave in Brazil

Gay man gets 'maternity' leave in Brazil

A gay couple kisses during a protest in Munich, Germany on Aug. 1, 2001.

SÃO PAULO, Brazil — Brazil’s social security agency has, for the first time, given a four-month "maternity" leave to a gay man so that he can care for his adopted child.

Lucimar da Silva requested the full four-month leave two years ago when he and his partner adopted their child, according to Pink News. Prior to the groundbreaking decision, Brazilian law required the mother of a child be granted four months leave and the father of a child be given five days.

Silva argued it would be discriminatory to deny him the longer leave, saying the agency had already approved four-month leaves for same-sex couples where both partners are women, reported the Associated Press. A statement from the social security agency said the decision it made for Silva does not set a legal precedent and that other all-male couples with adopted children will still have to individually request the four-month benefit.

Brazil has also recently broken ground in another way, when a public notary approved the civil union between three people — a man and two women — in São Paulo. GlobalPost previously reported that the decision, made by Claudia do Nascimento Domingues, had sparked controversy in the South American country, where most people are Catholic. The three adults had lived together in Rio de Janeiro for three years before being granted their civil union, and Domingues assured there was nothing illegal about the arrangement.